A newspaper reporter who covered police stories in Mexico's Gulf coast state of Veracruz has been found dead.

Authorities say the body of Yolanda Ordaz de la Cruz, a reporter for the Notiver newspaper, was discovered Tuesday behind the offices of another paper, and that a note had been left beside her remains. Ordaz de la Cruz had been missing since Sunday.

Investigators say organized crime is suspected in the journalist's death. They say they also are looking into possible links to the June killing of Notiver's editorial director, Miguel Angel Lopez Velasco, along with his wife, and their son. The main suspect in Lopez's killing, Juan Carlos Carranza, remains at large. A reward has been offered for his capture.

Separately, a judge in the Mexican state of Morelos has sentenced a 14-year-old U.S. citizen to three years in prison for murder, kidnapping and drug trafficking. Authorities say Edgar Jimenez, known as "El Ponchis," worked for the South Pacific drug cartel and that he killed four people, whose mutilated bodies were found hanging from a bridge not far from Mexico City. Jimenez is originally from San Diego, California.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon has deployed nearly 50,000 troops in the crackdown against drug violence since he took office in late 2006. More than 37,000 people have been killed in the country's drug war since then.